ANCESTORS

Rev. Henry Whipple St. Clair and Red Bird Woman (Esther St. Clair), mother of Rev. Henry Whipple St. Clair.

Left: Rev. Henry Whipple St. Clair, priest at Birch Coulee, ca. 1900. MHS (Minnesota Historical Society) Location III.40.89. | Right: Red Bird Woman (Esther St. Clair), mother of Rev. Henry Whipple St. Clair, ca. 1870. MHS Locator #E91. 1S/r8. Negative #46548.

RED BIRD WOMAN

Red Bird Woman (Esther St. Clair), mother of Rev. Henry Whipple St. Clair, was married to George St. Clair, an Episcopal minister. Rev. Henry Whipple St. Clair was married to Almeda Jones. Together they had 10 children.

Center: Red Bird Woman (Esther St. Clair), mother of Rev. Henry Whipple St. Clair, ca. 1870. MHS (Minnesota Historical Society) Location #E91. 1S/r8. Negative #46548. | Right: Rev. Henry Whipple St. Clair and family.

REV. HENRY WHIPPLE ST. CLAIR

Rev. Henry Whipple St. Clair (July 30, 1870 - December 30, 1958) was born in 1870 to parents Red Bird Woman (Esther Walker) and George St. Clair, an Episcopal minister. Rev. Henry Whipple St. Clair was married to Almeda Jones on November 2, 1889 in Minneapolis, MN. Together they had 10 children. Rev. Henry Whipple St. Clair was educated at the Shattuck Military school, and later at the Seabury Divinity school.

Left: Rev. Henry Whipple St. Clair, ca. 1905. MHS (Minnesota Historical Society) Locations III.40.87 & III.40.88, Negative #13272 A. | Center: Rev. Henry Whipple St. Clair, priest at Birch Coulee, ca. 1900. MHS Location III.40.89. | Right: Rev. Henry Whipple St. Clair, ca. 1904. MHS Location III.40.90, Negative #13274 A. | All: MHS Catalog ID #990028892550104294.

After graduating from divinity school, Rev. Henry Whipple St. Clair was ordained a deacon on June 25, 1899, and was later ordained an Episcopal priest in a ceremony at the Church of St. Cornelia on June 12, 1904. Rev. Henry Whipple St. Clair was appointed to serve at the Birch Coulee mission then later requested and received a transfer in 1917 to the Sisseton reservation serving several area churches.

During World War I, Rev. Henry Whipple St. Clair served as an army chaplain. In the late 1920s, Rev. Henry Whipple St. Clair returned to Birch Coulee and later retired there. Following the death of Almeda in 1952, Rev. Henry Whipple St. Clair lived with two sons. Rev. Henry Whipple St. Clair died in 1958 at the age of 88.